Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1887-08-18
POINT BLANK DENIAL
is THE WAY STATION AGENT MASON
MEETS TESTIMONY.


He Swears He Saw No Fire on the T., p. s.
W. Line the Night of the Disaster-Ter-
ribIe Crash on the Baltimore & Ohio at
/ Washington-A Signal Tower Smashed,
One Man Killed and Several Wounded.
CHATswoRTH, Ills, Aug 1S-The inquest
on the railway horror was resumed Wednes-
day The first witness was S. M. Mason, sta
ton agent and operator at Piper City. He Is
a TALL sleek individual, hearing more the re-
semblanee of a newly hedged preacher than
a raIlroader
He testified that on Wednesday morning,
Aug. 10, he received message addressed to
all section foremen instructing them to go
over their entire sections and see that all
bridges and the track were in good condition
This was to be done the last thing at night
before they went home Also another mes
sage addressed to all switchmen and agents
telling them 70 take precautions to see that
their switches were in proper condition At
night he received notice that the excursion
train would stop at Piper City if tagged for
holders of excursion tickets or to prevent &C
Superintendent Armstrong. He went over
his yard that night, pulled each switch-lock,
set all brakes on side-trscked cars and was
satisfied that all was III good shape. He
closed the station at o'clock the night of the
accident, and returned at $50
He then asked over the wire for informa-
tion of the train and learned it was at Grid
ley, then went out and looked west on the
track, saw no light. A resident named
Walrich called his attention to what he
| tWalrichl thought was train coming lie
the AGENT could see nothing and laughed at
| 1t aud thought no more about it. He then
went and laid down He saw the fated train
stop at the hill and wondered what it meant;
mentioned the fact to C. B. Plantz, train dis
| patcher at Peoria, and went out two or three
| times and still saw the light stationary A
| few minutes later the engine came up from
| the wreck and the engineer shouted: My
| God! Gather the people; there has been a
| terrible wreck" He saw no burning or fire
down the track on Wednesday evening.
Witness was carefully cross-examined by
the jury. He said that he was at prayer-meet-
| ing until $50. He denied point-blank sworn
statements of Messrs Maiden, Jones, and
| Clark that they called his attention to a light
in the west. The jury framed questions in
| every conceivable shape, but the witness in
sisted that ne observed no light on the track
until he saw the headlight of the relief engine,
thus giving flat contradiction to the previous
testimony of a haif-dozen witnesses. He
stated that he had received numerous orders
from the general offices to keep the track
clear of rubbish and to be careful of the fires
during the dry season. There had been fire
some time previously down toward the cul-
vert and fifty tons OF hay was destroyed The
witness was shown and identified a copy of
the telegram he received from Peoria Ills
m, addressed: "All Foremen." 1t read: sc
over your section this evening the last thing
you do and see that bridges, track and every
thing else is all O. K.
Mason was dismissed and Fl, Reed, section
foreman. took the stand He had been in the
service OF the company seventeen years Ac-
knowleiged receipt of the above dispatch.
Said he had made complete inspection OF the
track and found everything in good condi-
ton His section ad joins that one on which
the accident occurred. Answering hypothet-
lean question said he would not think of 60
ing home and leaving fires burning alongside
! of his track, nor would he call an inspection
complete unless he went over every foot from
one end to the other
The last witness examined was Christophel
Ennis, general roadmasuer between Gilman
and Peoria. He produced dispatch which
he received from Superintendent Armstrong
at $50 o'clock Tue;day evening. -
follows Have your rev. -
4 fefofs ei1fff1nk dr. ~ nad1<zt -
pk thsfr dut over the entire length of tn
4 section once or twice a day. The witness sal
he had walked the entire distance betweel
Forrest and Piper City twelve miles, ever,
day this summer and sometimes twice a day
, inspecting the bridges each trip He wa
sure there were no weeds or grass under o
near the bridge which could have set it o
, fire The witness was sharply cross-examine
! as to whether he considered it safe to leav
grass fires along the track on such hot, dr.
, and windy afternoon as that preceding th
night of the wreck He replied that it all de
pended on the character of the spot and tn
kind of fire If he did not think it a danger
, Gus fire he would consider 1t no harm III leay
ing it burning
, The witness gave his answers in a bluff
sarcastic manner, and received sharp repr
mand from the coroner who told him h
answer, were far from satisfactory. In re
sppDse to the final question he said that Fore
man ConeIIln should have gone over the 81
tire section after ali The men had quit WORK
He had as yet made no investigation touch
q ing upon the responsibility of his subord
mates in this section for the disaster, and di
3 aOt know when he would get around to i
3 This concluded the testimony and at o'cioc
the jury retired.
The Jury had several conferences about
verdict, but finally concluded to put the
decision off for another day. They are sal
!. TO be very much divided in opinion as t
whom TO put the blame upon, but most {
> them are certain that the company is blami
Bile